3 illegal immigrants arrested in Maine as part of nationwide sweep

BOSTON — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials say 145 of the more than 3,100 arrests of illegal immigrants in a nationwide sweep were made in New England.

The six-day sweep, announced Monday, targeted immigrants who were illegally in the country and who were convicted of serious crimes or otherwise considered fugitives or threats to national security. In New England, 55 of those arrested had multiple criminal convictions.

Officials say Massachusetts had 70 arrests, followed by 32 in Connecticut, 24 in New Hampshire and 13 in Rhode Island. There were three apiece in Maine and Vermont.

Dorothy Herrera-Niles, field office director of enforcement and removal operations, says 50 of those arrested in New England previously were ordered out of the country, and 12 others had illegally re-entered the U.S.